Aulus Hostilius Mancinus was consul of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

, together with Aulus Atilius Serranus, in 170 BC. He had been an urban

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

in 180 BC. When he was consul he was given the command of the

Third Macedonian War The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman ...

(171-168 BC) for that year. The ancient Historian

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in ...

did not write much about his campaign, which he thought was quite uneventful. He went to

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

on the western coast of Greece to march to

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thes ...

, where the Roman troops were stationed. Epirus had just switched sides, going over to

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus ( /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek: Περσεύς, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus and Bellerophon, the greatest Greek hero and slayer ...

, the king of

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...

. Perseus was told about his presence there. However, he was delayed. If he had attacked at the passage of the river Lous there would have been no escape for the Romans. Aulus Hostilius was informed about these developments and changed his route. He left Epirus and sailed to Anticyra (on the north coast of the

Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf ( el, Κορινθιακός Kόλπος, ''Korinthiakόs Kόlpos'', ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the ...

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

) and marched to

. He was not very successful, being defeated in battle. Then he gave up his attempts first to force his way through Elimea, and then to secretly march through Thessaly and reach Macedon because Perseus anticipated all his moves. He might have been the Hostilius who proposed the Lex Hostilia, which allowed prisoners of war or those who were absent on public business, and therefore could not attend a trial, and those who were under their guardianship to be represented in court. Previously one could bring a suit on behalf of another only when acting as a guardian.

The Manilia Case

In an account by

Aulus Gellius Aulus Gellius (c. 125after 180 AD) was a Roman author and grammarian, who was probably born and certainly brought up in Rome. He was educated in Athens, after which he returned to Rome. He is famous for his ''Attic Nights'', a commonplace book, ...

in ''Attic Nights'', Aulus Hostilius Mancinus who at the time held the position of

curule aedile ''Aedile'' ( ; la, aedīlis , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enf ...

attempted a forced entry into the brothel while he was engaging in revelry. Mancinus was then pelted with stones by the prostitute Manilia. Mancinus being injured from the stones brought his case to the

tribunes Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

, but was appealed as it "would not have been to her (Manilia's) advantage to admit him". This being a reference to Manilia's fear that Mancinus would destroy her property, subject her to

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

or another form of physical assault, and/or murder her. Thomas A.J. McGinn, The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History & the Brothel, pp. 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hostilius Mancinus, Aulus 2nd-century BC Roman consuls Mancinus, Aulus

The Manilia Case

See also

References